Sam's Sorrows
by Frodo's sister
Summary: Sequal to Rosie's Last Day Merry and Pippin visit Sam to try and make him feel better. There is no slash or drunkness, and there is a little spoiler. Slightly religious. Constructive Critism instead of flames please.


Sam's Sorrows

Disclaimer: I don't know Lord of the Rings. Tolkien does, and New Line Cinema owns the movies.

Merry and Pippin were sitting on the lounge chairs in the parlor of Brandy Hall smoking pipes, and relaxing.

"Do you know what I was thinking Mer?"

"What?" Merry asked.

"It's been a week since Rosie died and Sam seems to be having a hard time of it. I'm worried about him."

"Me too, but how are we going to make him feel better?" Merry asked.

"We'll have to think of something," said Pippin.

They remained silent for about 20 minutes thinking of ways to help Sam when Merry came up with an idea.

"I got it Pippin."

Pippin looked at him expectantly.

"Why don't we take him to the Green Dragon Inn and have ale. We could talk about the old times, to help put his mind off of Rosie."

"That's a good idea Mer, but we could do even more."

"Like what?"

"Do you remember the garden shop in hobbiton owned by Lilly Proudfoot?"

"Yes?"

"We can take him there. She has the best display of flowers and plants in the whole shire. She even has a garden tour, and I think Sam would like a garden tour."

"Alright, we will visit hobbiton and take him to the Green Dragon Inn and Lilly's Garden Shop."

"What if he doesn't want to go anywhere?" Pippin asked.

"He needs to get out of the house, staying at home with his memories is not good for him," Merry answered.

"You are right Merry. We better get ready to visit Sam."

Meanwhile Sam was sitting on the parlor of Bag End thinking about Rosie. He had shed many tears since she had died, and though it had lessened his sorrows a bit; he still felt it deep in his heart. He missed her so much. He missed her singing lovely songs while she was sweeping the floor, or holding a child on her lap, or gathering a bouquet of flowers and putting them in vases. He also missed how she washed the dishes, or how she scolded one of her children when they entered the newly washed floor with mud on their feet. He wished that he could put his arms around her, and kiss her again. Her kisses were sweet.

While he was sitting in his chair thinking about her, he heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Sam asked with annoyance in his voice. He was in the middle of mourning for Rosie, and he did not want to be disturbed.

"It's Merry and Pippin," Merry called through the door.

Sam opened the door to let them in and they followed him to the parlor. Sam had them sit down on the couch.

"I'll make some tea for you," Sam said sorrowfully while he started to head for the kitchen."

"No thank you Sam," said Merry and Pippin.

"We just want to talk to you and keep you company," said Pippin.

"Thank you," said Sam while he sat down on the chair again.

Merry and Pippin were silently watching Sam. They saw the sorrow in his eyes, and the frown in his face. None of the hobbits said anything to each other until Pippin spoke up.

"You are still having a hard time letting go of Rosie."

"Yes, I am. It is so hard to live without her," Sam said while tears formed in his eyes. I love her so much and she means so much to me. I feel like there is a hole in my heart, and I feel so alone."

Merry and Pippin looked at Sam with sympathy.

"I wish that she was here right now," Sam said while he burst into tears.

Merry and Pippin put their arms around him, and held him for a while he cried on their shoulders. After he released some of his sorrows, he got out of their arms.

"You are not alone, Sam," said Pippin. "You have us, and your family, and Eru is watching over you. He cares about you."

"But I don't have Rosie anymore," said Sam.

"You still have her in a way," said Merry.

"What do you mean?"

"She may not be here physically, but I know that she is also watching over you, and that she is in your heart," said Merry.

"I see her in my mind and feel her presence in every part of this simile," said Sam.

"We need to get you out of this house," said Merry. "That is what we came here for.

"I don't want to go anywhere," said Sam.

"Why not?" said Pippin. "It's not good for you to stay inside and feel sorry for yourself."

"Feeling sorry for myself?" Sam shouted angrily. "Rosie died and I'm having a hard time living without her, and you say I'm feeling sorry for myself?"

Sam knew that they were right. He was busy wallowing in his sorrows and he needed to get out.

"You are right staying in Bag End is doing me no good."

"We would like to take you out to the Green Dragon for lunch and ale, and then we would like to take you somewhere special, said Merry.

"Let's go," Sam said while he got up to put on his jacket.

They took their ponies and headed for the Green Dragon Inn.

"May I help you?" an attendant inquired while the three hobbits were standing in the entrance.

"Yes, I would like a table for three," said Merry.

"Coming right up," said the attendant.

She walked into the dining area and returned a few minutes later.

"We have some seats for you sirs," said the attendant. "Follow me."

The three hobbits followed her to the middle of the dining room. The other hobbits watched them walk to the table, and some of them were whispering. They knew that the three hobbits went to far away places, and that Sam recently became a widow.

"There you are sirs," she said while she handed them the menus. "Your waitress will be with you in a few minutes."

Two seconds later a waitress showed up at their table.

"Would you like any drinks?" She asked.

"Yes, three large mugs of ale," said Merry.

The hobbits began to look at their menus.

"Look Merry, I like this one," said Pippin who pointed to a chicken sandwich with lots of mushrooms.

"This one is even better," said Merry.

"What?" asked Pippin.

"A bowl of soup and an extra little bowl of fried mushrooms."

"That is even better Merry; I will get it."

"What are you going to have Sam," Pippin asked.

"I'm still thinking," said Sam.

He read the order a few minutes more before he put it down.

"I'm going to order the beef stew," said Sam.

The waitress came again with their drinks, and then they ordered their meals. 30 minutes later the waitress returned with their trays of food. Merry and Pippin ordered the same thing. Sam laughed slightly over the identical dinners. It was the first time he smiled since Rosie's funeral.

"You certainly think alike don't you," said Sam.

"We are twins Sam, don't you know that?" said Merry.

"We were only having different parents," Pippin added jokingly.

Pippin plunged his fork in a couple of the fried mushrooms, and brought it to his mouth and chewed it.

"Mmm, this tastes so good."

Sam tasted some beef stew.

"How does your stew taste, Sam?"

"Delicious."

"I remembered the time, when we ordered the beef stew, about a year before the quest," said Pippin.

"I also remembered that there was a lass that caught your fancy."

"I remembered that too," said Pippin. He remembered how disappointed he was when Pearl Grubb only had eyes for Carl Proudfoot. "She was the most beautiful hobbit lass I saw at that time."

"Until you met Diamond," said Merry.

"She was the most beautiful hobbit lady I have ever met even more beautiful than Pearl."

Sam was listening to their conversation, and his mood began to lift a tiny bit.

"Do you remember when we went sleigh riding with Frodo?" Sam asked.

"That was so much fun," said Pippin.

"We were riding so fast that everything that we past almost seemed like a blur, and I loved the woods we were riding through. I remembered how the trees were covered with snow, and the birds chirping," said Sam.

"I love bird song," said Pippin.

"Me too," said Sam "I always listen to the birds singing when I wake up."

Hobbit and his wife noticed the three hobbits eating their meals and talking to each other. They walked up to them.

"Are you the three hobbits that traveled to foreign lands?" the hobbits asked.

"Yes, we are," said Merry.

"My parents used to talk about you when I was a child, and I always wanted to meet you."

"I'm Merry, this is…"

"Pippin, and Sam," said the wife.

"How do you know?" Sam asked.

"You are shorter than the other two hobbits," she said.

"I'm sorry you lost your wife," she said.

"Thank you," Sam said sadly.

"We see you riding around the shire with your livery on," said the husband. "You look so magnificent on the horses."

"We do," Pippin said proudly.

"I'm Ted Barrows, and this my wife, Ruby."

"Can you tell us about your adventure in the foreign lands?" asked Ruby.

"It wasn't a happy adventure," said Sam.

The three hobbits told the Barrows, about the ring quest, leaving the really bad and depressing parts out of it.

"You must be a real hero," she said to Merry. "Imagine killing a Ring Wraith."

"Eowyn was the one who killed him, I only helped."

The two hobbits walked back to their seats, and the three hobbits continued to talk about the past events, helping to put Sam's mind off his wife. They paid for the meals and ales, and left the place.

"I'm full," said Pippin. "I never ate so much in my life."

"I'd never thought you'd be saying that," said Merry while he climbed on his horse.

"Where are we going now?" Sam asked.

"To Lilly's Garden shop," Pippin answered.

"That is a wonderful place, I haven't been there for a few years," said Sam. "Do they still have tours?"

"I think so," Merry answered.

They rode to the market and tied their horses to the trees. The market was very busy with lots of shops and people walking everywhere. In front of them was a scone shop with a tween lad displaying a few scones on the outside table. Two hobbit men were carrying cheese blocks inside another shop, and beautiful party dresses, weskits, and breeches were seen through the window of a different shop. Sam watched a hobbit lady pick up the pink dress and bring it to the cashier.

"Pink, is Elanor's favorite color," said Sam. "She had tables in her house covered with them."

"I like Brown, a lot better," said Merry.

"So does Fastred," said Sam.

The continued to walk until they entered the flower shop.

Sam looked around the flower shop, and was mesmerized. The shop was even lovelier than before. There were Pink asters and purple crocuses on one side, and daisies and yellow goldenrods on the other side, all growing in pots. "There were also some daisies, and sun flowers growing in the dirt, and the rose bush was blooming with red roses. There were even wild flowers like purple asters and white chelones, the scent of the flowers filled the air like perfume. He was in heaven.

"Welcome to my shop," said Lilly. "Would you like…."

She recognized Sam.

"Sam it's been a while since we saw each other. How is your wife doing?"

"She died," Sam said.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sam is one of our best customers, in the shop, we missed him," she said, to the other two hobbits.

"Your shop is even more beautiful than before," said Sam.

"Thank you," she said. "It's even lovelier in the spring and summer time.

"Do you still do tours?" Merry asked.

"Yes I do?" she answered.

She took them to a tour in the garden in the back of the shop. The flowers in the garden were even lovelier. There were mixtures of purple, yellow and pink flowers. There was a stone path, and a little water pond with rocks, and there was a fountain shaped like a flamingo, and a bird bath. A very large pile of orange and red leaves were seen toward the back of the yard. Lilly described the flowers to them.

"That was a really nice tour," said Sam.

"Your welcome," said Lilly.

"Come back soon," said Lilly while they paid her, and walked out the door.

"That was wonderful," said Sam. "This is the first time I had any fun since Rosie died."

"See, it is good for you to get out," said Merry.

"Let's head back home, Merry," said Pippin.

"Why don't you stay for a while," said Sam.

"Alright," they agreed, and the three hobbits headed back to Bag End.

Epilogue: Sam was still broken hearted over his loss of Rosie, but his sad mood was slowly lifting, and in a few months he was able to adjust to life without Rosie. Though he still missed her, he wasn't nearly as sad as he was before. The sea began to pull at his heart, and he realized that it was time for him to head to Valinor to see Frodo again.

The End

Authors Note: I always considered smoking to be unhealthy. I put the scene at the beginning of the story because it makes the story seem Tolkien like. Also Sam and Lilly are not romantically interested in each other. Sam was only interested in the flowers, and Lilly was only interested in selling them to him.


End file.
